Ice making machine

ABSTRACT

An electrolyzed water production system  30  for producing silver ion water containing a silver component by electrolysis of purified water is provided in a water supply conduit  23  for supplying the silver ion water as ice making water to an ice making mechanism  10.  After stopping of the ice making mechanism, the silver ion water supplied into the ice making mechanism  10  through the water supply conduit is remained.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an ice making system provided with an ice making machine for freezing ice making water supplied thereto through a water supply conduit and ice produced in the ice making machine.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In an ice making system provided with an ice snaking machine for freezing ice making water supplied thereto through a water supply conduit, tap water supplied as the ice making water from a source of water is purified by a water purifier to eliminate unwanted taste and unpleasant smell caused by a component contained in the tap water. The ice making water supplied into the ice making machine, however, does not have any disinfect resolution.

For this reason, when the ice making water is remained in the water supply conduit at the downstream of the water purifier during stopping of the ice making machine, the interior of the water supply conduit and the ice making machine are conditioned to cause breeding of various kinds of germs. Even when the ice making water is discharged from the water supply conduit during stopping of the ice making machine, the interior of the water supply conduit and the ice making machine is in a wetted condition, causing breeding of various kinds of germs.

In an ice making machine of the other type wherein tap water is used as ice making water without purified, breeding of various kinds of germs is restrained or avoided by disinfect resolution of the tap water even in a condition where the ice making water is remained in the water supply conduit during stopping of the ice making machine or in a condition where the interior of the water supply conduit and the ice making machine is wetted with the ice making water. In an ice making machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. Hei 11-166775, electrolyzed acidic water of high concentration in effective chlorine is used as ice making water for production of ice having disinfect resolution.

As described above, the water supply conduit in the former type ice making machine becomes in an unsanitary condition due to breeding of various kinds of germs during stopping of the ice making operation. In the latter type ice making machine, a large amount of effective chlorine contained in the produced ice causes unwanted taste and unpleasant smell although the problem in the former ice making machine does not occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to solve the sanitary problem in the former type ice making machine and to eliminate the unwanted taste and smell of ice produced in the latter type ice making machine.

The present invention is adapted to an ice making system provided with an ice making mechanism for freezing ice making water supplied thereto through a water supply conduit. An ice making system according to the present invention is characterized by an electrolyzed water production system provided to produce silver ion water containing a sliver component by electrolysis of ice making water purified by a water purifier disposed in the water supply conduit at the upstream of the ice making mechanism.

In the ice making system according to the present invention silver ion water containing a silver component produced in the electrolyzed water production system is supplied to the ice making mechanism through the water supply conduit and utilized to sterilize the water supply conduit thereby to maintain the same in a sanitary condition. The silver ion water can be also used as ice making water to produce chipped ice, flaked ice or sleety ice without any unwanted taste and unpleasant smell.

In the ice making system wherein tap water is purified and used as ice making water in operation, the electrolyzed water production system is activated upon finish of the ice making operation to produce the silver ion water. As the silver ion water is remained in the water supply conduit after stopping of the ice making machine, breeding of various kinds of germs in the water supply conduit and the ice making mechanism is restrained. In a condition where the silver ion water has been discharged, the interior of the water supply conduit is wetted with the silver ion water to restrain breeding of various kinds of germs. Thus, the water supply conduit can be maintained in a sanitary condition during stopping of the ice making machine.

In the ice making system, the ice making machine and the electrolyzed water production system are synchronously activated so that the silver ion water can be used as ice making water for production of ice. Thus, the ice of the silver ion water can be provided to consumers without any unwanted taste and unpleasant smell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an ice King machine in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An ice making system according to the present invention includes an electrolyzed water production mechanism for producing silver ion water containing a silver component by electrolysis of purified water, and an ice making mechanism for freezing the silver ion water supplied from the electrolyzed water production mechanism through a water supply conduit for production of ice. Illustrated in FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the ice making system, where in the ice making mechanism is in the form of an auger type ice maker 10 connected to an electrolyzed water production system 30 through a water supply conduit 20.

The auger type ice maker 10 itself is well known in the art, which is provided with an auger 12 disposed in an upright cooling cylindrical body 11. In operation of the ice maker 10, refrigerant from a freezing circuit (not shown) is introduced into a cooling pipe 11 a wound on the outer periphery of the cylindrical body 11 and discharged as shown by arrows in the figure for circulation to the freezing circuit, while the ice making water from the water supply conduit 20 is supplied into the cooling cylindrical body 11 until the supplied amount of water becomes an upper limit level. The auger 12 is driven by an electric motor through a gear unit 14 for rotary movement. During ice making operation of the ice maker, the supplied ice making water is gradually frozen on the inner periphery of cylindrical body 11, and ice layer formed on the inner periphery of cylindrical body 11 is ripped off by the spiral blade 12 a of auger 12 and forced upward. Thus, the stripped ice is compressed at the extruding head 15, and the extruded ice is cut off in an appropriate size to be discharged as chipped ice from an outlet duct 16.

The water supply system 20 for supplying the ice making water to the cooling cylindrical body 11 includes a first water supply conduit 21 in connection to a source of water such as tap water, a second water supply conduit 22 in connection to an inlet port of the cylindrical body 11, and a water storage tank 23 disposed between the first and second water supply conduits 21 and 22 for connection to them. In the water supply system 20, a water purifier 24 is disposed in the first water supply conduit 21, and an electrolyzed water production system 30 is provided in the water storage tank 23. The water purifier 24 acts to eliminate components such as chlorine component causing unwanted taste and bad smell for preparation of purified water. When the operation of the ice maker 10 has been stopped. In the ice making system, the ice making water remained in the cooling cylindrical body 11 is discharged into a drain pan 18 through a drain conduit 17 in connection to the bottom of cylindrical body 11.

The electrolyzed water production system 30 acts to prepare sterilized water by electrolysis of purified water supplied from the water purifier. The electrolyzed water production system 30 is composed of a pair of mutually opposed parallel electrodes 31 and 32 disposed in the water storage tank 23 the interior of which is utilized as a electrolysis chamber R. In the electrolyzed water production system 30, either one of the electrodes 31, 32 disposed as an anode electrode is in the form of a silver electrode which dissolves a silver ion therefrom for producing silver ion water containing a silver component. The silver ion water has a disinfect resolution without any unwanted taste and bad smell.

In the electrolyzed water production system 30 the silver electrode at the anode side is consumed by gradual dissolution of silver component therefrom For this reason, it is desirable that both the electrodes 31 and 32 each are in the form of a silver electrode the polarity of which is changed over in operation for electrolysis of the purified water. This is useful to restrain consumption of both the electrodes 31 and 32 for operation in a long period of time. Although the electrodes of the electrolyzed water production system 30 is disposed is the water storage tank 23 of the water supply system 20, the electrodes maybe disposed in an intermediate portion of the first water supply conduit 21 to store silver ion water in the water storage tank 23.

In the ice making system, the ice maker 10 maybe selectively operated at a mode where the purified water is used as the ice making water and at another mode where the silver ion, water produced by electrolysis of the purified water is used as the ice making water.

At the mode of ice making operation of the purified water the purified water is supplied to the cooling cylindrical body 11 of the ice maker 10 in a deactivated condition of the electrolyzed water production system 30. Thus, chipped ice is formed by freeze of the purified water in the ice maker 10 without any unwanted taste and unpleasant smell. Thus, the chipped ice of the purified water can be used as suitable for drink and eating and used as cooler in an appropriate manner.

When the electrolyzed water production system 30 is activated after finish of operation at the mode for freezing of the purified water, the silver ion water produced by electrolysis of the purified water is supplied to the cooling cylindrical body 11 of ice maker 10 and the drain conduit 17 through the second water supply conduit 22. The silver ion water can be retained in the cooling cylindrical body 11 and the drain conduit 17 and discharged through the drain conduit 17. When the operation of ice maker 10 is completely stopped after deactivation of the electrolyzed water production system 30, the silver ion water is remained in the cooling cylindrical body 11 and drain conduit 17 or the interior of cooling cylindrical body 11 and drain conduit 17 are wetted with the silver ion water. Thus, the interior of cooling cylindrical body 11 and drain conduit 17 is maintained by disinfection effect of the silver ion water in a sanitary condition to prevent breeding or proliferation of various kinds of genus until the ice maker 10 is operated next time.

At the mode of ice making operation of the silver ion water produced by electrolysis of the purified water, the ice maker 10 and the electrolyzed water production system 30 are synchronously activated so that the silver ion water is supplied to the cooling cylindrical body 11 of ice maker 10 through the second water supply conduit 22. Thus, chipped ice is formed by the silver ion water in the ice maker 10 without any unwanted taste and unpleasant smell. The chipped ice formed by freeze of the silver ion water can be used as suitable for drink and eating and used as most suitable for cooled preservation or transport of perishable foods such as fresh fishes, vegetables, etc.

Even before or after the chipped ice of the silver ion water is thawed, the ambience of preservation or transport of the perishable foods is maintained in a sanitary condition to prevent or restrain breeding or proliferation of various kinds of germs.

When the ice maker 10 and the electrolyzed water production system 30 are synchronously deactivated, the silver ion water may be remained in the cooling cylindrical body 11 and drain conduit 17 or discharged through the drain conduit 17. Thus, the interior of cooling cylindrical body 11 and drain conduit 17 is maintained by disinfection effect of the silver ion water in a sanitary condition to restrain breeding or proliferation of various kinds of germs until the ice maker 10 is operated next time.

Although in the embodiment described above, an auger type ice maker was adapted as the ice making machine, the present invention may be adapted to an ice making machine of the other type such as a drum type ice maker in which a component contained in ice making water is remained in produced ice in the form of chipped, flaked or sleety ice. 

1. An ice making system provided with an ice making, mechanism for freezing ice making water supplied through a water supply conduit for production of ice, comprising an electrolyzed water production system provided to produce silver ion water containing a silver component by electrolysis of ice making water purified by a water purifier disposed in the water supply conduit at the upstream of the ice making mechanism.
 2. An ice making system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the silver ion water produced in the electrolyzed water production system is supplied to the ice making mechanism through the water supply conduit and utilized to sterilize the water supply conduit thereby to maintain the same in a sanitary condition.
 3. An ice making system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the silver ion water produced in die electrolyzed water production system is used as ice making water in the ice making mechanism.
 4. An ice making system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrolyzed water production system is provided in the water supply conduit or within a water supply tank disposed in the water supply tank.
 5. Chipped, flaked or sleety ice containing a silver component produced in the ice making mechanism claimed in claim
 3. 